Ticket prices at the Fringe are already the subject of much comment, but Lost Watch Theatre Company are setting the bar pretty high with their asking price of £615 for a single seat for their Pleasance Courtyard show, Goodstock.
There is only one NOW seat at each performance of Olivia Hirst's play (the rest are in a more reasonable sub-£10 price range) and the company are passing on every penny that it raises to the Breast Cancer Now charity, meaning that a week's sale of NOW seats would raise £4305, and their entire three-week run just short of £16,000.
The price tag is carefully calculated, as the cost to the NHS of testing, and offering follow-up guidance and counselling, to a single person thought to be at risk of inheriting the genetic mutation BRCA1, which vastly increases the chances of a woman developing breast and ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie is probably the most famous person to have undertaken elective surgery as a result of a family history of BRCA1, and Hirst is another woman at risk who, at the age of 26 had decided to have her breasts removed in fours years time.
Lost Watch are, of course, insistent that their Fringe show is entertaining and funny despite its serious subject matter, and likely to be garlanded with awards. But they also hope that the NOW seat will raise badly-needed funds (and they will accept smaller donations to the charity at the door).
lostwatchtheatre.blogspot.co.uk
Stirling Folk Club has announced its programme for August and begins by welcoming back popular entertainers Andy Chung & Steven Johnstone on August 3. Singer Pauline Alexander (pictured) plays the club with accompanist Edwin Gallacher on August 10, followed by Irish singer-songwriter Gerry Creen (17th), Glasgow-based “Celtic eclectica” specialists, the Morgan Lee Band (24th) and an informal session (31st). The club meets every Monday at 8pm in Stirling Rugby Club’s premises on Causewayhead Road. www.stirlingfolkclub.co.uk
The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool hosts the first of two jazz concerts in its summer programme when it welcomes drummer Tom Bancroft’s Trio Red tonight [Monday July 27].Saxophone and piano duo Tommy Smith & Brian Kellock follow on Tuesday August 11. The music begins at 8:30pm. www.theceilidhplace.com
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